Say 'cheese!' Lebanon library holds special fundraiser on National Cheesecake Day

Tuesday

Jul 31, 2012 at 3:15 AM

By Liz Markhlevskayalmark@fosters.com

LEBANON, Maine — In a cozy room at the Martha Sawyer Community Library, surrounded by books for adults and children alike, local residents were filling their plates with cheesecake, and carefully decided which flavor they favored the most.

Monday evening's homemade cheesecake tasting and contest, a fundraising event for the library, corresponded with the National Cheesecake Day. The event was held just months after the formation of the Friends of the Library group, which aims to raise funds for the library and is now working to get an official nonprofit status.

On Monday, a long table at the library was decorated with cheesecakes large and small, topped with anything from berries, to chocolate and caramel. As about a dozen residents waited their turn to grab a bite of the dessert, they commented on the sweet cheesecake smell that permeated the room.

"We just love cheesecake," said 21-year-old Lebanon resident Katie Brewington, as she sampled three different styles of the homemade dessert. "I'm a big fan of the cookies and cream one."

From the large variety of cheesecake being offered, the winner of the contest was Donna Place, a Lebanon resident who made plain cheesecake using a Fannie Farmer Cookbook recipe.

"It's been a long time since I made cheesecake," said Place, who said getting the cake out of the pan is the hardest part of making the dessert.

While Place could not explain what accounted for the pleasant golden color on the outside of the cheesecake, she said the crust was made using nutmeg and cinnamon, as well as vanilla wafers.

"It seems to me that people like the traditional plain cheesecake," said librarian Jennifer Griffin, as she announced the winner of the homemade cheesecake contest.

Place's cake competed with two other cheesecakes on Monday — a Hershey's caramel chocolate cheesecake, made by Roxanne Bumford, and an Oreo cheesecake made by 10-year-old Sam Martel.

For Sam, it was his first time making cheesecake, and he admits, "It wasn't easy."

While the majority of the Oreo cheesecake was consumed by event participants within an hour of the event, Sam said he's not likely to make cheesecake again. He would rather eat the cake than make it, he said.

For Bumford, who some say had the best-looking cake in the contest, it was also her first time making cheesecake.

"I've never made one of those," said Bumford, a Lebanon resident who explained she simply followed the recipe found online.

Her husband Frank joked, "I married her because she can cook."

Place, the winner of the cheesecake tasting contest, was awarded a certificate to the Flat Rock Bridge Family Resort, with $80 toward offseason camping.

When asked if the cheesecake tasting and contest will become an annual event, Griffin said, "I like cheesecake, so probably."